How To Customize Google Chrome For iOS And Make It Your Default Browser [Jailbreak]

Google released its Chrome browser on the iOS platform last week, and it wasn’t long before the app shot to the top of the App Store’s charts. People clearly wanted a change of pace, and Apple’s Mobile Safari just wasn’t cutting it.

If you’re a Google Chrome for iOS fanatics out there, you’ll be pleased to hear that a couple new Cydia tweaks have surfaced to make Google Chrome the best Safari replacement around.

Before you go enhancing Google Chrome itself, you need to make it your default iOS browser. Apple doesn’t allow non-jailbroken users to totally replace Safari with another browser, but a jailbreak tweak in Cydia called Browser Changer allows you to set a third-party browser as default when opening links anywhere in iOS. Download Browser Changer for free in Cydia and select Google Chrome from the tweak’s settings.

Now that Google Chrome is your default browser, it’s time to install Chromizer in Cydia.

Chromizer and ChromeURL in action.

Chromizer adds a few things to make Google Chrome even more awesome. You can tap once with three fingers to initiate full screen mode, and the iOS status bar will disappear. The famous ‘pull to refresh’ gesture is also added for reloading webpages. Like normal, you can drag and flick tabs away. Chromizer adds a nifty gesture to go back and forward between webpages. Swipe to the left or right with two fingers to navigate through Google Chrome more intuitively. You can also enable iPhone-like tab switching on your jailbroken iPad with Chromizer, which it makes it more apparent that you’re switching tabs with one finger.

One last thing. In Safari, you can quickly add “.com” and such to domain names as you’re entering them in the address or search bar. Google decided to go with a more generic keyboard layout in Chrome, so you don’t have access to the same domain shortcuts. If this bothers you, a free tweak called ChromeURL brings the familiar browser keyboard layout back.